If the series ever comes out on Blu Ray

[Lou Szabo]

I think that with the sale of the #1 Batmobile, and 66 Bat Toys this year, they will finally get it. Somewhere between 2014 and 2016, we'll see it.

[clavierankh]

I agree with Cage. I'd rather have a set of disks on my shelf than out in the cloud.

[BATWINGED HORNET]

I'm glad I'm wrong, if there's not a lack of extras that could be included with a release!

The material is there, but the question is whether or not Fox will pay to use off-series content. From a business standpoint, it would be additional icing on the cake--another reason to sell units percieved as the "full package."

I'm starting to worry that if we ever see a release, it will be after the era of home video as we've known it. I've read that the entertainment industry wants to implement a "cloud computing" sort of standard for the sort of thing we now get on DVD, with the content stored somewhere on a network and the buyer gaining the right to watch it, but never having a separate copy at home. I may be silly for wanting it, but I want to have a set of the shows on a shelf, where I can watch them at will without having to have cable or internet or some other account, or risk losing access altogether if something goes wrong with my account status.

We will get a release on physical media (Blu Ray) before studios make (what I see as) a mistake of abandoning discs in favor of tossing content all on the SO easy to corrupt or hack Cloud (or similar services).

[SprangFan]

I think they'd likely release the series the other way around, and do a complete set first. Time-Life has done this with The Man From UNCLE and The Six Million Dollar Man, the latter of which is only now coming out in season sets and the former of which never has (except for season 1).

I've never seen sales figures, but I'm guessing just about every series sells more copies of Season One than any follow-up seasons. The best way to move Season 3 discs would be to bundle the whole series and sell to the hard-core enthusiasts first.

It might also be the only guarantee it's all released. I know that I enjoyed the heck out of The Big Valley, but when Season One sold poorly, they only released half of Season 2 in a cheaper format, waiting to see how it did. It didn't do well, so the second half of the season never came out at all. So now I've got one and half seasons of a 4-season show!

Clavierankh, you might want to hang out on eBay for a while and see if you can snag that extra Wild Wild West disc with the reunion films. I've noticed a lot of folks buy box sets then split them up and sell them piecemeal. Although in my personal opinion, those reunion films pretty much define the term "for completists only."

[marvelbloodhound]

I have to concur. NOTHING beats having stuff on a shelf at your disposal.

[exm]

With the line between televised episode content and internet episode content getting increasingly blurred, I would think the financial incentives run just the opposite, as far as Batman. With the series still available on television, that people will not tend to shell out for just "access" to something that's floating around their airwaves and internet. If they don't offer something tangible the consumer puts on their shelf, they're not clearly offering anything.

I also hold out a slim hope that there are those out there who have been compiling their own special features (interviews, commentaries) over the last 20 years, with an eye towards selling them to WB/Fox when the time comes

[RockWizard]

What the @#@#@$ are they waiting for? For all the "target market" to die, everybody involved with the show to be gone? The same thing continues to happen with The Beatles and stuff in the Vault. I know there is LOTS of red tape, but a lot of money to be made. So...in 3 yrs, it will be 50 years. How many of us will still be here? Can't the "suits" see this? In the meantime, I'll watch the "other" sources......

[Earth 2 Chris]

It seems really odd that all of this red tape has been untangled enough to get official product based on the show but NOT DVDs/Blu-Rays. I know when the news first broke of WB putting out classic TV series merchandise last summer, everyone was hoping this also meant series sets were FINALLY coming, and then we were all told "It ain't happening".

I still hold out hope that there have been some inroads made, at the very least. Unfortunately, many series sets now have little to no special features. The days of series sets with lots of love and time put into them really seems to be over. If it ever happens, I hope they make an exception for Batman!

Chris

[Riddler Fan]

I'll never fully understand why the 1966 Batman movie was released on DVD, but not the series? It's the same studio, same producers, same cast and the same writers. Can anyone clearly explain this to me?

[That_weirdo_Cage]

This may be a bit outdated now, but the article at the link has generally been taken as the best explanation for the delays and complications with any Batman '66 home video release.

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Batman ... rted/10573

There used to be a sticky at the old forum on the topic, linking to the above URL. The situation with the actual episodes is apparently more complicated than that for the film or for licensed merchandise.

[BATWINGED HORNET]

I've never seen sales figures, but I'm guessing just about every series sells more copies of Season One than any follow-up seasons.

Star Trek: The Next Generation would be one exception, since most fans believe the series really found its groove by season 3 (with its Borg season-ending cliffhanger).

The best way to move Season 3 discs would be to bundle the whole series and sell to the hard-core enthusiasts first.

I think Fox will do just that; why play around with a season so many fans criticize? Further, many season sets get blasted for cherry picking interesting supplemental features for weaker seasons as bait to sell units. A Batman season release could follow this pattern, but I think Fox would desire producing the end-all, bells and whistles Blu Ray series set, as it would best take advantage of the initial buzz (hopefully frenzy) surrounding the arrival of Batman in this format.